Golden Eagle Sightings !   Hiker: Marc Yaxley On a short 1 hour hike today, I caught a quick video of a mom Eagle launching right over me. I had stumbled near and below a rock outcrop where she had made her seasonal nest and loaded it with eggs. Being a bed and breakfast at first I thought "how many people can I feed with one of those eggs?", then sanity returned and the lowly chicken eggs will have to suffice. Here is a snap of that video of her launching from the nest that I visit next: Looping over my head as I "hung out in the Eagles Nest" (I limited my visit to 2 to 3 minutes only): More fairly close (20') shots of her swooping around me as if to say, "...you better not touch those babies...": The nest niche they live in, two full size adults were in service as I came up, they both flew off as the above photos show, leaving their Eaglet for me to spy on: Mom flying over while I looked around, she did...

Red Fox seen at Kelly Place We are frequently asked about the wild animals that may be encountered around Kelly Place. It is canyon country and there are a number of animals which have not been frightened off by the humans. The most notable is undoubtedly the mountain lion. In our ten years on the property, we have never seen one here. HOWEVER, we frequently see evidence that they are around, and not on the fringes either. Sometimes their footprints are right outside our home. When I spoke to the Colorado Wildlife official about the danger, he told me that this is a “good mountain lion” because it doesn’t kill our pets and has stayed out of sight of humans. If they were to move our good mountain lion, it would open up the territory to another which may not be so good. So we live with the mountain lions. We are observant of the correct way to behave if ever we do encounter one. That is to make yourself look large (holding a jacket or shirt over your head) and unusual. I though...

The annual birding festival is coming up, May 8-12! There are already a lot of summer birds here at Kelly Place. Marc is stocking up on seed. By the end of summer, I get tired of hearing the white-wing doves, but I realize I missed them over the winter! We have over 89 bird species identified at Kelly Place in the past. Get festival info at mesaverdecountry.com. We will try to contain our cats....